The present invention is related to the field of retail merchandizing and more particularly with regard to a method and system for providing increasing the throughput in retail store checkout lanes.
Self service checkout lines are a recent feature that many retail stores have incorporated into their business model. Similar to self-service gas pumping, retail self-service checkout is intended to expedite the purchase of store items by a customer while reducing the number of store employees needed as cashiers.
In one aspect of self-service checkout, a customer scans each item to be purchased before a scanner that reads a bar code attached to the item packaging. The scanners determine the item scanned and accesses a data base to obtain the prices of the item. A similar method, using RF Identification tags (RFID) is also known. Using RFID tags, a user may scan the item before a sensor that reads the RFID tag value and determines a price or other characteristic of the item scanned. With regard to RFID technology it is known in the art that there are three types of RFID tags; active, semi-active and passive.
Active RFID tags have the longest range but require an active source (a battery) to operate as they actively broadcast a signal. Semi-passive RFID tags similarly require a battery to broadcast a signal. But this signal is broadcast in response to an RFID signal. Passive RFID tags do not require a battery, are the least expensive and are small enough to be placed on any package. Thus, passive RFID tags are most commonly used in an inventory control system. However, passive RFID tags have a very limited range and, thus, require the RFID tag to be placed close to the sensor element. Hence, their use in self-service checkout requires that each item must be individually placed before the sensor, which is time-consuming.
Hence, there is a need for a faster method of determining those items to be checked out in a self-service checkout.